


Just Between You and Me

by AmarieMelody



Category: Batman (Comics), Ghost Rider (Comics)
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Ableist Microaggressions, Difficulty Talking About Feelings, Gen, Hurt & Comfort, Male Character of Color, Racism against Latinx, Skunkstripe Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3214964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmarieMelody/pseuds/AmarieMelody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabe Reyes is the sunshine, the little bro, the happy nexus of their little family. But even he cries, even he hurts.</p><p>Ableism is a daily part of life for Gabe-he should be used to it by now. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, no matter how much he wishes otherwise. Big brother Jason comes in to offer a comforting ear and a hug. Pure fluff. One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Between You and Me

Gabe is trying. 

He is trying so, so hard. 

His face is drenched in tears and he’s already given up on wiping his nose several minutes ago. He bites down on his lip hard, almost drawing blood. His small hands fist in the polyester of his comforter, moist in some places from his falling tears. If it wasn’t for the thick material, he’d feel his nails digging into his palms. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut, so tightly that his brow bunches with creases until his head hurts. But that only makes the tears come harder, faster. Desperately, he wants to bury his face in his pillow, but that would mean he’d get snot on his pillow. And snot on his pillow would mean more housework for Robbie. 

Robbie.

Robbie is at work now, on a late night shift. He picked Gabe up from school today with McDonalds as a surprise and the promise of an even bigger surprise at home. Gabe begged and begged his big brother to tell him of the second surprise as he stuffed chicken nuggets in his mouth. But Robbie didn’t budge, didn’t even give a clue. Just kept smiling and winking at him in that secretive way that big brothers with secrets do. As they pulled up to their apartment, Gabe saw the dark blue Camaro with black stripes parked and he _shot through the roof of the car_. 

Jason. 

Gabe then got the biggest bear hug between his blood brother and his Gotham brother. To be squished between them was the best place ever to be. That’s where Gabe feels the safest, the most loved.  
It’s also where he feels the most trapped. 

Because Jason’s presence means that’s double the people Gabe has to hide from. 

Neither Robbie nor Jason knows what happened today in gym. They don’t know that the coach told Gabe he couldn’t play basketball with the other boys because they’d have to slow down for him. But he shouldn’t worry because “he should be proud to be a unique and special wheelie”. 

They don’t know that this isn’t the first time this happened. 

And Gabe still doesn’t plan on telling them. He never has. 

He doesn’t know…he doesn’t know how he managed the last few hours. How he put on his usual cheery, sunny face while he and Robbie did their homework and Jason started fixing dinner. He kept it up all through dinner (Jason makes mean homemade chilidogs, coleslaw and French fries) and after. Then it was time for Robbie to go back to work for some overtime and Jason helped Gabe with the last of his homework and got him into bed. 

Gabe kept his face all the way up until Jason softly tucked him in, reassured him to call him if he needed anything, and closed the door softly. 

Now he’s sitting up in his bed long past it’s time to sleep and struggling to keep his sobs quiet enough that Jason won’t hear. 

Wheelie…

Can’t play…

Just be proud…

Gabe _has_ to be quiet. He can’t let either one of them know. He can’t. 

He knows Robbie’s wrath, Robbie’s anger. He remembers when those big kids took his first wheelchair, took his comic book and called him out his name. Robbie came to his rescue, outnumbered…and outgunned. Robbie thinks Gabe doesn’t remember anything of it at all. But he does. There are nights when he tries to go to sleep and all that plays before his closed eyes is that gun aimed at his brother’s head. Those feet and fists pummeling his brother. Those voices cackling and hooting. 

That gun…

And Jason? He’s always told Gabe that he’s a nice bounty hunter for the GPD. Gabe’s always known that’s yet another sugarcoated lie-he can smell Gotham off of Jason. And Gotham smells like violence, almost as much or more than L.A does. Gabe knows there’s a reason why Jason never lets him help put groceries in the trunk of his Camaro. 

So he can’t tell Jason anything either. 

But that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t hurt. 

He wishes he could finish crying so he can go to sleep. Because sleep is supposed to make you feel better, isn’t it? When you wake up, it feels like a restart in your emotions and you can take on the new day with a smile that’s at least halfway real, right? 

Right? 

Gabe’s stomach drops all the way down through the floorboards when a gentle knock sounds on his bedroom door. Jason’s low, concerned voice sends Gabe’s heart pitter-pattering. “Gabe? Sunshine, you alright in there?” 

He trembles where he sits in his bed. Oh no…Jason must’ve heard…he must’ve…now he might know and he might get a gun pointed at him…

Gabe can’t breathe and he can’t tear his eyes off his bedroom door. He can’t answer. 

Jason tries again, the concern in his voice growing towards alarm. “Sunshine? Can I come in there?” 

Without thinking, Gabe cries, “N-no!” He lifts his comforter up higher, as though he could hide himself in any good way if Jason did decide to come in anyway. He knows that Robbie would come in anyway, worried and frantic about him. 

Jason’s voice is just a little less worried. “Alright, kiddo. Alright. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Just wanted to hear your voice. I’ll come by later and check on you again, okay? You call me if you need anything, you hear?” 

Gabe completely stops in his panic. He…Jason…didn’t come in. He just wanted to hear his voice, just make sure he could answer…

His voice is just a little calmer when he responds. “Y-yeah. I know, Jay. I…’m okay.” 

“Okay, good. I’ll be back later.” There’s an amiable thump on the door, then Jason’s heavy footsteps fade away. 

Gabe collapses against his pillows. He can hardly believe it; can hardly believe that Jason…listened to his ‘no’. Jason trusted him. Jason didn’t come in his room, worrying and probing…

His tears slow just a little as his sadness is overshadowed by guilt. Robbie’s always said that Gabe’s heart is the most golden heart in all the world and so lying has always been hard for him, even though it’s needed to keep the two men in his life safe. But now he feels doubly guilty because Jason just calmed down and respected his privacy, whereas Robbie would’ve barreled in at the sound of his sobbing. 

But Jason will come back. He’ll come back soon and Gabe…Gabe can tell him he’s sorry. He just won’t tell him what happened in gym today. Yeah, Gabe will say he’s sorry, then he’ll try to sleep. He’s supposed to be asleep-it’s long past his bedtime and he’s supposed to be a good kid and good kids go to sleep when they’re supposed to. Especially when they’re being babysat by their most favorite babysitter in the world (well, Jason is the only one who takes care of him outside of Robbie, but he can still be his favorite). 

A few minutes later, Gabe’s tears have completely stopped. His eyes and his nose burn and his hands are sore from gripping the comforter so tightly. He really, really does feel sleepy now. 

Jason’s soft knock followed by his soft voice comes again, “Sunshine? Can I come in?” 

Gabe bites his lip, then calls back out. “C-can you wait a minute? Just a minute?” 

“Yeah sure. Take however long you need.” Jason’s voice is nothing but warm sincerity. 

Gabe chews a little on his lip-he needs to make his decision fast, or Jason is going to worry even more. It’s a big, big risk that he’s scared of taking. But Jason always was…more laid back than Robbie, more casual. He’s always let him do things that would make Robbie freak out. Like help cook in the kitchen, even stirring some pasta and tasting just one pasta shell to see if it’s tender enough. When Gabe asks a question about sex, Jason’s been as frank and patient as ever, never laughing or flinching no matter what Gabe asked (yes, girls masturbate and yes, people really do have sex in the back of cars). He’s even cursed around Gabe and, when Gabe copied him, only corrected him on the proper inflections and meanings. 

Jason can be…safe. 

He takes a deep, deep breath, then calls out again, “J-Jason?” 

“Yeah, I’m still here, buddy.” 

His heart pounding, Gabe asks, “Y-you won’t tell Robbie?” 

There’s just a little, careful pause, then, “Naw. So long as it’s not, y’know, you’re dying, it’s all good. Or really, really hurt. Otherwise, shit just stays between you and me. Promise.”

“O-okay. You can…you can come in now.” 

The boy tenses as the door softly clicks open and Jason steps into his room. He’s barefoot and in a plain black tank top and grey sweatpants. He smells like the shower and his hair is wet. Gabe remembers his wide, wide smile when he called his hair pretty because it’s comets and asteroids hair with its streaks of white and grey. It’s outer space hair and that’s why Gabe likes it. 

Jason takes one look at his tear-and-snot streaked face and tilts his head a little. “Oh…stay right here, ‘kay kid? I’ll be right back.” 

Gabe nods his head, trying hard not to bite his lip. His heart pounds heavily in his chest again as he waits. Was Jason going to go call Robbie after all? Was he just not going to deal with a crying, sobbing, wheelchair-bound kid? Was he mad? Disgusted? Was he-

His mind comes to a screeching halt when he can just make out the microwave going in the kitchen. What was Jason doing with the microwave? 

But Jason comes back soon. In one hand is the only box of tissues in the house and in the other is a cup of milk. 

Jason smiles at him and gestures at his bed with a jerk of his head. “Mind if I sit?” 

“S-sure…” Gabe’s heart lurches as he wishes that he could move his legs. 

But Jason moves easily. He first gently sets the tissue box in Gabe’s lap, then reaches over to place the glass of milk on the nightstand. The bed dips with his heavier weight as he sits right on the edge of it, allowing plenty of room for Gabe’s legs while also making himself comfortable. He reaches back to hand Gabe the cup of milk. Gabe gasps when his fingers wrap around it-it’s warm, just the right temperature to feel pleasant to his young fingers. So that’s what the microwave was for. 

He wipes his eyes and nose with one of the tissues, then takes a sip of the milk. His stomach flutters as its warmth splashes inside and Gabe can’t help but sag against his pillows. 

“Th-thank you, Jay…” 

Jason smiles warmly, his eyes carefully watching him. “No need, kiddo. No need.” 

Gabe smiles back, then alternates between drinking the milk and wiping his face. When there’s a little pile of tissue balls in his lap, Jason silently takes them and tosses them into the wastebasket.  
After a while, the older male asks, “You wanna talk ‘bout it? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

His grip on the cup becomes tighter as anxiety spikes again. “I…it’s just…” The rest of the words come out in a rush. “They wouldn’t let me play basketball in gym today. ‘Cause I’m in a wheelchair. It’s nothing new, so I don’t know why it always hurts my feelings.” 

There’s that spark of that Gotham violence in Jason’s eyes, but his voice is still soft and warm. “It hurts your feelings ‘cause they’re shitty people and shitty people can hurt our feelings. That’s just being human, sunshine.” 

“But…but it happens all the time…” Gabe winces, preparing for Jason to gear up to march to the school first thing tomorrow morning. 

Instead, there’s just that brief flash of Gotham violence and that soft, warm voice again. “Yeah, so? I bet _because_ it happens all the time, it hurts your feelings even more. You can cry about it, sunshine. No problem in crying about it-that just means you’re human and you have feelings. You have a right to your feelings.” 

Gabe stares, shocked. His voice is high and breathy. “Y-you’re not mad? You’re not gonna go up to the school tomorrow?” 

Jason bursts out in humorless laughter, his smirk downright cruel. “Of course I’m mad.” He leans over to lightly ruffle Gabe’s hair. “Someone made my one and only sunny boy cry? And this isn’t the first time they’ve done this? Fuckin’ hell yeah, I’m mad. Mad as all hell. I could spit.” 

“But… _you_ don’t need me to be mad right now, right? You don’t want me to be mad and you definitely don’t want me to go up to the school. That’s why you didn’t want me to come in here in the first place, yeah?” 

Gabe’s eyes are about to pop out of his head, they’re so wide. “How did…how did you know?” 

Jason smiles again, this time the cruelty touched with a good bit of sadness. “I’m around…a lot of kids like you back home, little man. They…” Jason struggles with his next words. “They have a lot of problems like you and not like you. You know? Things like…their parents are gone. No money at all. Living from shelter to shelter. A lot of them are in wheelchairs, too.” 

“Oh, that’s horrible…” Gabe’s heart sinks and his eyes smart again.

Jason nods. “Yeah, it is. So there would be times when I would catch them crying, like I caught you crying. And I learned that…a lot of things they were crying about… _were_ things that pissed me off. Just like I’m pissed off now about how those assholes treat you all the time. Sometimes I could do somethin’ about it and sometimes I couldn’t. But I learned the hard way that…when they’re crying, the best thing that I can do for them-in that moment-is do whatever they want me to do. You understand?” 

Gabe, newly awestruck slowly nods. He looks at the man sitting next to him like he’s…never seen him before. “I get it…” 

“So…a lot of times, they didn’t want me to go out and ‘fix’ it for them, y’know? Sometimes they just wanted someone to listen to them, and other times they just wanted someone to hold them. So, y’know, they trusted me a lot, lot more when I followed whatever they wanted me to do, instead of going off my emotions and doing just want I wanted. And I wanted their trust ‘cause I wanted them to know they could always come to me. Same with you, sunshine.” 

Jason’s eyes are the most tender Gabe’s ever seen them he turns them back on him. “So what do you want me to do for you, Gabe?” 

Gabe feels weightless with no more worry and grounded with reassurance. He stares at Jason, warm brown eyes searching those stark green eyes. His voice is a weak whisper. “You…you’re not gonna go up to the school?” 

“Not unless you want me to.” 

“You’re not gonna beat anybody up?” 

“Not unless you want me to.” 

“You’re not gonna…fuss over me a whole lot?” 

“Not unless you want me to.” 

“You’re not gonna ask for more details?” 

“Not unless you want me to.” 

“You promise?”

“I promise.” 

“You gotta pinkie it.” 

“Pinkie it is, then.” 

New tears shining in his eyes, Gabe leans forward to meet Jason halfway. Jason’s large pinkie-nearly the size of Gabe’s pointer finger-engulfs his smaller one. 

He pulls back and wipes at his eyes again with the tissue. Jason puts it in the wastebasket when he’s done. 

“Th-thank you, Jay. Thank you…” 

Jason reaches behind him to warmly rub Gabe’s calf. “It’s alright, kid. ‘S what I’m here for. But you gotta tell me what you want me to do, now. Can’t just leave you up here, at eleven o’clock at night crying alone, y’know? Gotta tell me how I can help make it better someway…” 

An idea comes to Gabe’s mind. It makes him bite his lip again, but he hands older man the empty cup. While Jason puts it on the nightstand, Gabe opens his arms. Without a word, Jason smiles and moves around so he can lift Gabe, sit at the head of the bed and let him snuggle down in his lap. Gabe immediately wraps his arms tight around Jason’s muscled torso and buries his face in the broad chest, seeking out the strong, steady heartbeat that’s not unlike Robbie’s and the body wash that is absolutely Robbie’s. In turn, Jason wraps his arms tight around the boy, gently rubbing his back and laying his cheek atop his soft dark brown hair. Gabe hugs him even tighter when a soft kiss lands on his head. 

Tears come to his eyes again. They smart as exhaustion, gratitude, and love and relief pool and settle in his soul. He feels guilty that he can’t really do this with Robbie and that Robbie will barrel through anyone that hurts him before he does anything else. But this way, with Jason comforting him, he can more easily keep Robbie from knowing. This is better…Jason can help him hide it. Jason can help him period.  
Jason is safe. 

His voice is muffled and just a little scratchy. “Jay?” 

“Hmm?” Jason starts rocking him just slightly. Side to side and it’s three times harder to stay awake. 

“Still not gonna tell Robbie? I don’t…I don’t wan’ Robbie to worry…” 

Jason’s chest rumbles with his laughter. “Aww, ‘kay sunshine. Just letting you know, though? You’re Robbie’s whole world and you’re mine too. Worry is jus’ kinda part of that package. So is anger and stress and all that. And you’re more than worth it and it’s not your fault, you hear?” 

Gabe presses himself even closer. “Yeah, but…but I don’t want you guys to, well…feel bad.” 

“We don’t. Don’t worry. We got you around, so feeling bad isn’t possible. I know it’s…hard for you to understand right now, but you will. One day you will, kiddo.” 

“You mean it?” 

“Yeah, I really, really mean it. ‘Cause it’s true.” Another kiss atop his head. 

“And this…this still stays between you and me? Just you and me?” 

“Yep. Just you and me sunshine.” 

“Promise?” 

“I promise.” 

They pinkie again.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always hated it when people look at Gabe & just think that he's this one-dimensional ray of sunshine 24/7 that's not negatively affected at all by the hardships of his life. The boy is brown, disabled & impoverished and I wanted to bring light to the effects on him from one of his axes of oppression: the ableism against him.
> 
> I have Jason comfort him instead of Robbie because I understand that, sometimes, the people that are closest to the situation (Robbie) are the people that you least want comfort from at the moment. Because you know how they'll handle it and it's not what you want to hear/deal with. Someone that is farther away from the situation (Jason) can be more likely to offer comfort in new ways that may help you-whether it's just providing a listening ear without the It Gets Better speech or simply being fresher to whatever your problems may be. 
> 
> Yeah, you guys can tell I love Gabe Reyes. :P


End file.
